The incumbent serves as the Chief Environmental Management Service (EMS) at the Iowa City VA Healthcare System (ICVAHCS), lowa City, Iowa. ICVAHCS consists of the main tertiary care facility in Iowa City, an annex in Coralville, and nine leased sites throughout eastern Iowa, and western Illinois. ICVAHCS serves over 40,000 Veterans, with more than 350,000 outpatient encounters annually.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Planning, directing, and maintenance of a total program to provide a sanitary environmental sanitation program for floors, wails, and ceilings; stripping of floors to include cleaning of other floor coverings and refinishing floors; cleaning virtually all facility areas of the ICVAHCS and cleaning patient beds and patient equipment. Operates in coordination with the Facility Design programs including input and review of plans for developing and implementing the ICVAHCS decoration plan to insure durability suitability, safety and aesthetic value of fabrics, furniture and fixtures. Responsible for the management of the operation of the laundry and linen service. This will include the responsibility for managing the contracted laundry services for production and in-house management and distribution. Oversee the establishment of transportation systems and the arrangement for laundering, repair, and replacement of linens. This applies to the ICVAHCS Medical Facility, Primary Care Clinics (PCC) and nine CBOCs which use the consolidated laundry. Operate a certified interior and exterior pest control program. The EMS Chief for the ICVAHCS is responsible for a multi-locational health care system and applies specific knowledge of pesticides and procedures to ensure that the contract program forestalls or prevents infestation and corrects or eliminates infestation already in existence. Administration and oversight of the waste management program. Contacts and contracts with outside agencies and landfill sites are performed as required to ensure compliance with community, stat; EPA and 051-IA regulations. The EMS Chief must keep pace with advancing technology and sophistication, and provide input to such areas as ethylene oxide utilization, hepatitis control and disinfecting. handling and disposal of biohazardous waste, and antineoplastic agents. Provision of uniform services to all appropriate ICVAHCS employees as identified in the VHA Handbook 1850. The EMS Chief interprets and recommends policy which implements federal law regarding the eligibility for and provision of employee and patient therapy uniforms, and protective clothing for VHA entities. This program constitutes the career apparel and employee identification program, which has considerable public relations and employee satisfaction implications. He/she is responsible for the conducting of union negotiations at the facility level concerning uniform style, color and appropriate allocations of issue and allowance. The incumbent is the primary coordinator and liaison between Administrative Services and Clinical Services for epidemiology and infection control. In conjunction with these duties, the incumbent serves as a major contributor and member of the Infection Control Committee, Environment of Care Committee, Green Environmental Management Committee and others as assigned. He/she consistently provides input to areas of hepatitis control, disinfection, handling and disposal of biohazardous waste, AIDS precaution and disposal of anti-neoplastic materials. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Position Description/PD#: Hospital Housekeeping Officer/PD500270 The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/02/2023 Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: Experience in two or more of the following areas, or other work related to the position to be filled is required: Experience that demonstrated a practical working knowledge of the basic principles of chemistry, biology, and bacteriology as applied to environmental sanitation, infection control, and to the choice and use of antimicrobial agents in the disinfection, sanitization, and/or sterilization of surfaces and equipment. Experience in laundry and linen management. Experience in interior design management. Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of waste management, including the requirements relating to hazardous, toxic, and infectious wastes and provisions for their final disposition. Experience that demonstrated a knowledge of pest management, including alternative methods of control and the selection and application of chemicals. The specialized experience for this grade level in addition to the above, is further defined as: assisting in the selection and hiring, training, promotion, and overall leadership and management of an Environmental Management Service; identify ways to resolve problems or cope with issues that directly affect the accomplishment of principal program goals and objectives; responsible for the implementation and management of the EMS budget; plan, coordinate, and direct short and long-range operating activities; ensure facility compliance within area of responsibility with EPA, OSHA, JCAHO, and other regulatory entities; make decisions and actions that have substantial impact on program objectives, goals, funding, scheduling, organizational structure and allocation of resources; Responsible for collaborating with the Chief in the management of the Medical Center's Waste Management Program and the required compliance reporting; serve as Assistant Textile Care Officer and is responsible for active participation in the management of the technical aspects of linen operations. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementContracting/ProcurementDecision MakingInterpersonal SkillsManages Human ResourcesManages ResourcesQuality AssuranceTechnical Competence Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Iowa City VA Health Care System 601 Highway 6 West Iowa City, IA 52246 US
• Name: Marissa Frese
• Phone: 6124675704
• Email: [email protected]